POWER ELECTRONICS

AC TO AC CONVERTERS

Chapter 5

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 DEFINITION
A power electronic ac–ac converter, in generic form, accepts
electric power from one system and converts it for delivery to
another ac system with waveforms of different amplitude,
frequency, and phase.
They may be single-phase or three-phase types depending on
their power ratings.
AC-AC converter can be categorized into Three topologies
AC-AC Voltage Controller Converter (AC Choppers)
AC Cycloconverter
Matrix Converter

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 AC Voltage regulators
Def. AC voltage controllers are thyristor based devices which convert fixed
alternating voltage directly to variable alternating voltage without change in
frequency.

✓ Using these controllers, rms value of the voltage across the load is varied from
a maximum value to zero.

✓ The simplest way to control AC voltage to the load is by using AC switch

(bidirectional).

✓ The bi-directional conducting property can be achieved by simply connecting

two unidirectional thyristors in inverse parallel to each other.

✓ AC voltage controllers are naturally commutated.

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 AC Power Control
Control of AC voltage controllers is of two
kinds.

a. On-Off Control (Integral Cycle Control)

b. Phase Control

Single Phase AC voltage Controller

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a- On-Off Control (Integral Cycle Control)
• The load power can be controlled by connecting the source to the load for
few complete cycles then disconnecting the source from the load for
another number of cycles, and repeating the switching cycle.

• Suitable for systems with large time constants.

• Average power to the load can be varied from 0% through 100%

• Integral cycle control finds applications in heating loads and for motor speed
control.

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 For resistive load T

Voltage
across 2 2
thyristors
1 1
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Average load power is given by:

Po(avg.) = Vi² n = Vi² d = Po(max) d

RT R
where n is the number of cycles during ON period
T is the total number of cycles covering ON and OFF periods
Vi is the supply voltage
R is the load resistance
RMS value of output voltage is:

Vo= Vm √(n /T) = Vi √d

√2
Ratio of on time to total cycle time controls
average load power as well as rms output voltage.

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Power factor is:

PF=√(TON/T) = √d
Source current is always in time phase with source voltage. This does not
mean that integral cycle control circuit operates at unity power factor- for
part of time, the source current is not present at all and therefore is not in
phase with source voltage.

PF=√d

d
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AC Phase Control
• Phase control is kind in which thyristors are fired once every cycle and the
instant of firing can be delayed from the zero crossing. By this, only a part of
the voltage waveform appears across the load, providing voltage control. The
load current appears in pulses, the zero crossing of which can be used for
turn-off of the thyristors.

• Suitable for loads with short time constants.

• Firing instants of thyristors are 180° apart, each occuring in its respective half
cycle.

• By controlling this instant of firing, the effective voltage occuring across the
load can be varied.

• As the two thyristors have firing pulses delayed by 180° , the AC current
pulses are periodic and symmetrical and there is no DC current component.
The load voltage also does not have any DC component.

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Half wave AC phase controller (unidirectional

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Reading assignment

Derive an expression for DC voltage in a single-phase AC voltage

controller.

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Single-phase AC voltage controller with resistive load

Load power can be

varied by changing α
over the full range from
zero to 180°

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RMS value of output voltage is:

RMS value of output current is:

Output power is:

Po(avg.) = I²o(RMS) (R) Or V²o(RMS) /R

Power factor is given by:

Power factor is unity when firing angle (α) is zero; it becomes

progressively smaller as α increases, becoming approximately zero
for α=180°
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Variation of output voltage and power
With delay angle for resistive load

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Single-phase AC voltage controller with inductive (RL) load

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Application of AC voltage regulators

• Lighting / Illumination control in ac power circuits.

• Induction heating.
• Industrial heating & Domestic heating.
• Speed control of induction motors (single phase and
poly phase ac induction motor control)

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CYCLOCONVERTERS

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 Introduction
• Cycloconverter is frequency changer that converts AC power at one input frequency to AC
output power at a different frequency.

• Variable frequency output can be obtained by AC→ DC → AC using phase-controlled

converters (rectifier followed by inverter). This is two stage frequency conversion.

• Single-stage frequency conversion is called cycloconversion.

• Cycloconversion can be anyone of following:

1- conversion of variable frequency to fixed one (aircraft or shipboard power supplies or wind
generators)
2- conversion of fixed frequency to a variable one (AC motor speed control)

• Cycloconverters can be step-up or step-down

• For efficient operation, cycloconverters are usually operated in frequency

range of zero to less than one-third the source frequency.

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• Majority of cycloconverters are step down type.
• Types of step down converters
single-phase to single phase cycloconverters
three-phase to single phase cycloconverters
three-phase to three-phase cycloconverters

• Cycloconverters are naturally commutated and the maximum output frequency is a fraction
of the source frequency.

• Therefore, cycloconverters are low speed ac motor drives in ranges up to 15 MW with

frequencies from 0 to 20 Hz.

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 Single-Phase Cycloconverters
• The principle of operation of single-phase cycloconverters can be
explained with the following figure.

• First, two single-phase controlled converters are operated as bridge

rectifiers
• . Their delay angles are such that the output voltage of one
converter is equal and opposite to that of the other converter.

• If αp is the delay angle of positive converter, the delay angle of the

negative converter is:
αn = π – αp

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 Three-Phase Cycloconverter
• The circuit diagram of a three-phase/single
phase cycloconverter is shown next.

• The synthesis of output waveform for an

output frequency of 12 Hz is also in this figure.

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• The cycloconverter of previous figure can be
extended to feed a three-phase load, by
having six three-phase converters.

• If six full-wave three-phase converters are

used, 36 thyristors would be required.

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 Reduction of Output Harmonics
• The output voltage of cycloconverters is
basically made up of segments of input
voltages.
• The average value of a segment depends on
the delay angle for that segment.
• If the delay angles of segments were varied in
such a way that the average values of
segments corresponds as closely as possible to
the variations of desired sinusoidal output
voltage, the harmonics on the output voltage
can be minimized.
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• The delay angles for segments can be
generated by comparing a cosine signal at the
source frequency with an ideal sinusoidal
reference voltage at the output frequency.

• The following figure shows generation of the

gating signals for the cycloconverter.

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